Abnormal optokinetic and perceptual span parameters in cerebellar-vestibular dysfunction and related anxiety disorders

As prior studies indicated abnormal cerebellar-vestibular-based sensorimotor mechanisms and neurological and ENG diagnostic parameters in anxiety disorders and because ocular fixation and sequential scanning are cerebellar-vestibular-modulated, it appeared reasonable to measure these and related ocular functions in matched samples of anxiety-disordered and control subjects. In this study, the optokinetically-determined fixation, sequential scanning, and perceptual span capacities obtained by means of a newly revised blurring-speed method were significantly lower or impaired in 70 anxiety-disordered patients vs 70 controls. Such data supported further the hypothesis that there may be cerebellar-vestibular predispositions to anxiety disorders and the optokinetically-based tracking method may prove useful in separating a diverse array of CV-determined or related anxiety symptoms from those of other origins. However, independent validation as well as additional studies of anxiety disorders using larger samples vs random or "normal" controls are required before conclusions are justified.     

Perceptual and academic patterns of learning-disabled/gifted students.

This research explored ways gifted children with learning disabilities perceive and recall auditory and visual input and apply this information to reading, mathematics, and spelling. 24 learning-disabled/gifted children and a matched control group of normally achieving gifted students were tested for oral reading, word recognition and analysis, listening comprehension, and spelling. In mathematics, they were tested for numeration, mental and written computation, word problems, and numerical reasoning. To explore perception and memory skills, students were administered formal tests of visual and auditory memory as well as auditory discrimination of sounds. Their responses to reading and to mathematical computations were further considered for evidence of problems in visual discrimination, visual sequencing, and visual spatial areas. Analyses indicated that these learning-disabled/gifted students were significantly weaker than controls in their decoding skills, in spelling, and in most areas of mathematics. They were also significantly weaker in auditory discrimination and memory, and in visual discrimination, sequencing, and spatial abilities. Conclusions are that these underlying perceptual and memory deficits may be related to students' academic problems.     

句子语境中汉语词汇形、音作用的眼动研究

采用眼动方法, 通过两个实验考查了句子语境中汉语词汇形、音的作用及其作用的时间进程。结果发现：(1)在高限制性句子语境中, 音同的凝视时间和总注视时间显著短于无关控制; (2)在低限制性句子语境中, 音同、形似的首视时间均显著短于无关控制; (3)词频效应出现在低限制性句子语境中。该结果表明, 句子语境影响词汇形、音的作用及作用的时间进程, 汉语词汇的意义可以由字形直接通达, 也可以由形和音两条路径得到通达。     

Genetics and educational psychology

Background: Molecular genetics, one of the most energetic and exciting areas of science, is slowly but surely coming to educational psychology. Aims: We review recent molecular genetic research on learning disabilities as a sign of things to come in educational psychology. We also consider some misconceptions about genetics that have slowed the acceptance of genetics in educational psychology. Samples: Diverse samples of children with learning disabilities have been studied, primarily in the UK and the USA. Methods: Linkage analysis can detect genes that have large effects on learning disabilities. Association analysis can detect genes of much smaller effect size, which is important because common disorders such as learning disabilities are likely to be influenced by many genes as well as by many environmental factors. Results: For reading disability, replicated linkages have been identified on chromosomes 6, 15 and 18. A gene responsible for a rare type of language impairment has recently been identified. For common language impairment, linkages on chromosomes 16 and 19 have recently been reported. More than 200 genetic disorders, most extremely rare, include mental retardation among their symptoms, and chromosomal abnormalities are a major cause of mental retardation. Conclusions: Although finding specific genes associated with learning disabilities is unlikely to have much of a direct application for teachers in the classroom, such findings will have far‐reaching implications for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of learning disabilities and for research in educational psychology. Educational psychology has been slower to accept evidence for the importance of genetics than other areas of psychology in part because of misconceptions about what it means to say that genetics is important for common complex disorders such as learning disabilities.     

The developmental course of processing speed in children with and without learning disabilities

This study contrasted the development of processing speed in children with and without learning disabilities. We examined whether the same global mechanism presumed to be responsible for the normal developmental improvement in processing speed might also be associated with the processing speed deficiencies observed in children with learning impairments. One hundred and twenty-two children with learning disabilities in reading and/or math and 206 non-disabled community controls participated. There were no differences in relation of age to the development of processing speed for children with and without learning disabilities. We interpreted these results as suggesting that the underlying etiologies for the normal developmental change in processing speed and for the relative deficiencies in processing speed seen among children with learning disabilities were different.     

不同亚型数学学习困难儿童应用题问题表征过程的研究

采用自编数学应用题解决能力测验题对小学四年级单纯型数困儿童、混合型数困儿童和普通儿童问题理解阶段、问题整合阶段的差异,以及问题表征能力与数学问题解决之间的关系进行探究。结果表明：（1）单纯型与混合型数困儿童有效识别信息的能力弱,难于利用相关信息和排除干扰信息。（2）单纯型数困儿童比混合型数困儿童更擅于运用图式表征策略。（3）图式表征策略能促进数困儿童应用题的解决。     

Co-occurrence of developmental disorders: The case of Developmental Dyscalculia

Five to seven percent of children experience severe difficulties in learning mathematics and/or reading. Current trials that are focused on identifying biological markers suggest that these learning disabilities, known as Developmental Dyscalculia (DD) and Dyslexia (for reading), are due to underlying brain dysfunctions. One ongoing controversy concerns the extent to which arithmetic impairments are specific to DD or shared with other developmental disorders such as Dyslexia. This review explores and develops a hypothesis for cases of DD + Dyslexia. Three factors warrant consideration: (a) the behavioral factor, including definitions of the disabilities and assessment tools; (b) the cognitive factor, including whether co-occurrence of DD and other developmental disorders such as Dyslexia derive from similar or different cognitive risk factors; (c) the biological factor, including consideration of static vs. developmental neuropsychology. Better understanding of the causes of co-occurrence of DD and Dyslexia, or other developmental disorder such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), can have an important influence on research that examine the two disorders, including research on therapy and etiology.     

Co-occurring disorders: a possible key to visual perceptual deficits in children with developmental coordination disorder?

A study was conducted to examine how visual perceptual functioning in children with DCD may be influenced by co-occurring learning problems such as reading disabilities (RD) and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Participants included seven groups of children: 27 children with DCD only, 11 with ADHD only, 14 with RD only, 63 with DCD and at least one other disorder (i.e., DCD + ADHD, DCD + RD, DCD + ADHD + RD), and 73 typically developing controls. Visual perceptual skills were assessed using the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills (TVPS) and the Rey Osterreith Complex Figure (ROCF; copy and delayed recall). Children with DCD and at least one other disorder were found to have impairments on the TVPS compared to children with DCD only, ADHD only, and typically developing controls, particularly on subtests assessing visual memory. On the ROCF, children with DCD and at least one other disorder scored significantly lower than children with ADHD only or RD only. Children with DCD plus one other disorder were then subdivided into three groups: DCD + ADHD, DCD + RD, and DCD + ADHD + RD and compared to children with DCD only, ADHD only, and RD only. Results indicated that children with DCD + ADHD + RD had significant impairments on the TVPS compared to children with DCD only and children with ADHD only. On the ROCF, children with DCD + ADHD + RD scored significantly lower than all of the groups, except the DCD+RD group. These findings suggest that DCD on its own is not associated with visual perceptual problems; rather, it is the presence of co-occurring disorders that is a possible key to visual perceptual deficits in children with DCD. The number of co-occurring disorders present with DCD is associated with the severity of the visual perceptual dysfunction. Deficits in visual memory skills appear to be a specific area of difficulty for children with DCD and co-occurring RD and/or ADHD.     

Acquisition of new "words" in normal subjects: a suggestion for the treatment of anomia

The study explores the efficacy of three learning methods in normal controls. Thirty subjects, randomly assigned to the repetition, reading aloud, or orthographic cueing method, were asked to learn 30 new "words" (legal nonwords arbitrarily assigned to 30 different pictures); 30 further new "words" were used as controls. Number of trials to criterion was significantly lower, and number of words remembered at follow-up was significantly higher for the orthographic cueing method. Two aphasic patients with damage to the output lexicons were also rehabilitated with the same three methods. In both patients the orthographic cueing method was significantly more efficacious. The differences in learning efficacy of the three methods are discussed.     

Assessment of Reading and Learning Disabilities A Research-Based Intervention-Oriented Approach

Assessment practices for children with learning disabilities (LD) in reading are driven by the three primary components of the federal definition of LD: discrepancy, heterogeneity, and exclusion. This article reviews the implications of these three components for the assessment of children with reading disabilities and other forms of LD. We propose a rationale and procedures for more efficient approaches to the identification of children as learning disabled in reading or at-risk for these disabilities that are aligned with research on reading disabilities and other forms of LD. This approach emphasizes the assessment of academic skills and their components in an effort to develop intervention plans. Intelligence tests are not necessary for the identification of children as learning disabled and do not contribute to intervention planning.     

识图方式与地图难度对定向运动员识图决策绩效与视觉搜索特征的影响

目的：研究旨在探究定向运动员在识别定向运动地图时的决策绩效与视觉搜索特征。方法：研究采用组内设计,操控地图难度（简单和复杂）和运动员识图方式（精确识图和概略识图）对高水平定向运动员进行实验研究。结果：（1）随着地图难度的加大,定向运动员识图准确性下降,概略识图反应时增加。（2）识图时,简单地图比复杂地图注视频率和眼跳距离更大,注视次数更少;概略识图比精确识图注视次数更多、注视频率更高、眼跳距离更大;概略识图时,简单地图条件下运动员从起点开始正向搜索,复杂地图条件下从终点开始逆向搜索,注视区域面积大且分散;精确识图时,无论是简单地图还是复杂地图,所有运动员均首先搜索检查点说明表和终点,注视区域面积小且集中。结论：地图难度制约着定向运动员的识图决策绩效。定向运动员识图的视觉搜索特征受识图方式与地图难度影响,表现出不同的视觉搜索策略。     

周边视觉的知觉学习

知觉学习是指知觉能力随着知觉训练或经验逐渐改变的现象。它具有特异性-迁移性,可以根据时程划分为快速学习和慢速学习。知觉学习意味着与知觉直接对应的脑区神经元激活方式的变化,并且与注意有着一定的联系。目前周边视觉的知觉学习研究已有一些成果：对于非语词刺激,随着练习,判断目标刺激（例如刺激朝向、游标视敏度）的能力,有很大的提升;对于语词刺激,周边视觉的知觉学习可以帮助提高阅读速度。可以通过提高视觉广度来提高周边视觉的阅读速度。周边视觉的知觉学习还有着重大应用价值,可以帮助中央凹视觉缺损的人们提高周边视觉能力,帮助恢复阅读能力。     

Psychosocial correlates of learning disability subtypes in children with tourette's syndrome

Children with different types of learning disabilities are thought to be at risk for specific profiles of behavior problems. This study sought to determine if learning disabilities are related to behavioral adjustment specifically in children with Tourette's syndrome (TS). We examined the Child Behavior Checklist (CBC) profiles of 61 children with TS who were between the ages of 6 and 18 years. The children were classified into one of three subtypes of learning disabilities or a nondisabled control group, based on performance on the Wide Range Achievement Test-Revised. Children with learning disabilities displayed higher scale elevations on the CBC than did controls, but not after controlling for the presence of attention deficit disorder. The results are inconsistent with previous research on the behavioral adjustment of subtypes of learning disabilities. Thus, the expression of learning disabilities may be idiosyncratic in children with discrete neuropsychiatric disorders such as TS.     

Concrete operational thought in children with learning disabilities and children with normal achievement.

This study compared Piagetian cognitive development in normal achieving children and two groups of children with learning disabilities designated as either auditory-linguistic or visual-spatial on the basis of Verbal-Performance IQ differences on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R; 1974). The two groups with learning disabilities were matched with normal achieving controls on intelligence, socioeconomic status, sex, race, and age. Piagetian tasks measuring conservation, seriation, and classification were administered to each child to determine level of operative thought. The auditory-linguistic group scored significantly below normal controls in operativity, and significantly fewer were at a concrete operational level on a conservation of length task than were normal achieving children. The visual-spatial group did not differ significantly from normal controls. These results suggest that auditory-linguistic disabilities may be more detrimental than visual-spatial disabilities to development of operativity.     

From "logographic" to normal reading: the case of a deaf beginning reader

Visual word recognition of a profoundly deaf girl (AH) with developmental reading disorders was explored using an experimental technique that measures performance as a function of eye fixation within a word. AH's fixation-dependent word recognition profile revealed that she was inferring the identity of words using a "logographic" reading strategy (i. e., using salient visual features). Following this observation a special training program that enhances the understanding of grapheme-phoneme relations was applied. After few months of training, AH's reading skills improved, while her fixation-dependent performance changed to become like that of normal readers. We discuss the impact of our technique for the early diagnosis of reading impairments.     

Rapid naming deficits in children and adolescents with reading disabilities and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Seventy-one children in three groups (reading disabilities, ADHD without reading disabilities, and normal controls) were compared on their ability to rapidly name colors, letters, numbers, and objects (RAN Tasks) and alternating letters/numbers and letters/numbers/colors (RAS tasks). Children with reading disabilities were found to be slower on letter- and number-naming tasks and made more errors on all tasks than controls or children with ADHD. There was an age effect for the RAN/RAS tasks, with younger children with reading disabilities performing more poorly on all tasks, while the older children with reading disabilities showed poorer performance only on the letter- and number-naming tasks.     

An intrahemispheric integration deficit in dyslexia

In order to investigate the hypothesis that dyslexia may result from a failure of intrahemispheric integration between auditory-verbal and visual-verbal processing, a dichotic listening task and a parallel divided visual field task were administered to a group of dyslexic boys between the ages of 8 and 11 years, and a group of normal control subjects individually matched for age and WISC intelligence. The dyslexics were on average over two years retarded in reading and spelling. Dyslexics exhibited a normal right ear advantage on dichotic listening for digits although lesser right ear advantage was related to reading retardation. In the divided visual field task, the normal controls showed a left visual field advantage for digits which it is argued resulted from a failure in fixation linked to reading habits. Within the dyslexic group greater reading deficiency was associated with relative bilateralization for visual verbal processing. The results therefore support the hypothesis.     

Using support vector machines to identify literacy skills: Evidence from eye movements

Is inferring readers’ literacy skills possible by analyzing their eye movements during text reading? This study used Support Vector Machines (SVM) to analyze eye movement data from 61 undergraduate students who read a multiple-paragraph, multiple-topic expository text. Forward fixation time, first-pass rereading time, second-pass fixation time, and regression path reading time on different regions of the text were provided as features. The SVM classification algorithm assisted in distinguishing high-literacy-skilled readers from low-literacy-skilled readers with 80.3 % accuracy. Results demonstrate the effectiveness of combining eye tracking and machine learning techniques to detect readers with low literacy skills, and suggest that such approaches can be potentially used in predicting other cognitive abilities.     

Learning Disabilities and Psychosocial Adjustment: A Critical Review

Research is reviewed that assesses the extent to which difficulties in psychosocial adjustment are characteristic of broadly defined learning disabilities (LD) and of specific patterns of academic and neuropsychological assets and deficits (Rourke & Fuerst, 1991; Spreen, 1989). Overall, a majority of children and adolescents with LD are in the normal range of peer acceptance and socially competent behaviour. Some measure of difficulty in these social assessments is observed in approximately one third of children and adolescents with LD, compared with 10 to 15% of non-LD controls. Similarly, internalized emotional symptoms of depression and anxiety are assessed as somewhat higher for individuals with LD than for non-LD controls but are within the normal range of scores. Externalized emotional behaviours, specifically aggression, delinquency, and hyperactivity, are problematic but these too are at subclinical levels. In the few studies that examine psychosocial adjustment for subtypes of LD, there is some evidence that individuals with nonverbal learning disabilities (NLD) are at much greater risk for personality disturbance and behaviour problems. That the psychosocial adjustment of individuals with reading disabilities is within the range of non-LD controls remains to be convincingly demonstrated.